Portable or semi-permanent containment tanks, enclosures or vessels are commonly used in the oil and gas industry, in the mining and mineral processing industries, and for a wide variety of other industries and industrial applications. Such tanks or enclosures are often used to store slurries and/or liquids until such time as they can be further processed or otherwise collected and shipped to other locations. One such temporary containment vessel is used in association with oil and gas drilling. When drilling an oil or gas well drilling mud typically will contain toxic and/or expensive additives that cannot be released into the environment, or that for economic reasons need to be recovered. In such instances as the drilling mud leaves the casing is directed to a tank or containment vessel, after which it can be recycled back into the drilling circuit or gathered and shipped for processing, disposal or re-use.
Since in many instances containment tanks, vessels or enclosures such as those described above, are required on a temporary or semi-permanent basis they are sometimes formed from pre-made panels that are transported to the desired location and assembled on site. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/355,827 (Publication No. US 2012/0031899) describes an example of one such panel that may be utilized to form such a containment tank.
In an attempt to minimize the number of panels required to form a containment tank or vessel, and to also help minimize the expense of assembling the tank on site, the panels used to form the tank are typically of a considerable size, often in or around 8 feet in width by 40 feet in length. Such panels generally approach the maximum size that can be easily transported on a standard flatbed trailer. Where the panels are made from a foam filled composite material they typically can have thicknesses ranging from 3 to 6 inches and have weight in excess of 2000 pounds each. Panels made from other materials can have weights exceeding 2000 pounds. It will thus be appreciated that even though a smaller number of larger panels is easier to assemble than a greater number of smaller panels, large panels require the use of forklifts, boom trucks, small cranes, etc. in order to lift, position and manipulate them into their proper location. For example, when assembling the wall portions of the tank or enclosure, it has traditionally been necessary to bolt channels onto the floor sections and then use a crane or boom truck to lower the wall portions into position with their edges received within or adjacent to the channels. While such a mechanism has been effective, it can be tedious and time-consuming, particularly in situations where the panels are assembled in cold environments and where workers must deal with the effects of snow, ice and below freezing temperatures.
There is therefore a continuing need to improve the mechanisms available for the assembly of such tanks or enclosures in order to help minimize the time, labour and expense involved in the assembly process. At the same time there is a need to present a strong structural junction between the wall and floor portions of the tank or enclosure to ensure that there is no accidental separation which could result in a loss of containment, added expense and potential environmental damage.